Oil trains on Pa. tracks getting more scrutiny after W. Va. explosion

February 19, 2015 | 1:48 PM

An aerial photo shows a derailed train in Mount Carbon, WV., Tuesday Feb. 17, 2015. The train carrying crude oil derailed Monday night, causing a large fire that forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes and temporarily shutting down water treatment facilities.

The fiery oil train derailment in West Virginia on President’s Day, which forced the evacuation of nearby residents and sent Bakken crude into the Kanawha River, has environmentalists and local lawmakers taking a more critical look at the oil trains running across Pennsylvania’s tracks.

The burning CSX rail cars in the West Virginia accident carried shale oil from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields. Dozens of those same oil trains role across Pennsylvania each day on their way to Philadelphia area refineries. And driving, walking or biking around Philadelphia these days it’s hard to miss the rows of black cylindrical tanker cars lining the city’s railroad tracks.

Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution Thursday urging the city’s Office of Emergency Management and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to work together and make more information about the oil train routes and safety plans available to the public. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown says the 2014 oil train derailment that had tanker cars hanging over the Schuylkill River close to the downtown area of the city was a warning.

“If there’s ever an accident it would be a bad thing so we need to be proactive and figure out what type of prevention measures they have in place to avoid an accident,” said Reynolds-Brown. “We don’t want to be in a ‘I wish I shoulda coulda place.’”

The resolution also urges federal authorities to force upgrades on older model tank cars. The Department of Transportation has proposed new rules for these oil trains. But Clean Water Action’s Mary Donahue says those steps aren’t enough for cities like Philadelphia.

“Parts of that rule talk about lowering speed limits in densely populated areas, or even rerouting around densely populated areas,” said Donahue. “But in the case of Philly we are the destination for that oil so you can’t possibly reroute around us.”

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Two trains made up of 120 tank cars roll into the city’s oil refineries each day. The shale oil boom in North Dakota has increased rail traffic nationwide because the country’s pipeline system does not have the capacity to transport it. Shale oil and shale gas boosters are pushing to turn Philadelphia into an “energy hub,” where more oil and gas processing and cheaper energy could attract manufacturers.

Environmental groups like Clean Water Action have asked to see the city’s emergency management plans for an oil train accident. But the city’s Office of Emergency Management director Samantha Phillips says reading those plans won’t help the public respond.

“The information is very technical, so unless the public is well versed in hazmat response it would be very difficult for the public to say, this is a good plan or this is not a good plan,” said Phillips.

Phillips says she’s confident in the city’s plan, worked out in conjunction with CSX officials and seven different government agencies. The public, she says, should respond to every disaster in the same way.

“Being informed, knowing how to shelter in place, and knowing how to evacuate are really basic and all encompassing actions that the public can take,” she said.

But Clean Water Action’s Mary Donahue says right now, the public is not informed of the risks or evacuation routes. Donahue’s group has been holding meetings about oil trains within certain neighborhoods and says it’s still an unknown danger.

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency has gotten federal grants to do training in the case of an oil train derailment or explosion. PEMA spokesman Cory Angell says the agency has made oil train response a priority for hazmat training dollars. In fact, a recent hazmat exercise attended by some of Governor Wolf’s newly minted staff focused on the response to an oil train explosion.

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Comments

We need DEFINITIVE, NEIGHBORHOOD BY NEIGHBORHOOD guidance on what to do in case of an emergency. That’s what OEM doesn’t get.

Frackit

Oil trains can make a pipeline much safer!

Meenal Raval

“Shale oil and shale gas boosters are pushing to turn Philadelphia into an “energy hub,” where more oil and gas processing and cheaper energy could attract manufacturers.”

If indeed this happens, there will be even more trains bringing in even more oil into Philadelphia We’re just increasing our risks, people.

Just say no to the shale oil & gas. And let’s work to meet our needs with wind & solar energy instead.

KeepTapWaterSafe

agreed!

emergent

No. The energy hub is about natural gas, not crude oil, which will come in through a not yet constructed pipeline. PES has no plans on increasing the amount of crude oil they can refine. There are no plans to increase the amount of crude oil coming into Philadelphia by any company.

Al Neuman

Pipelines are the answer for moving gas!

imforit

Excuse me but this was an oil train derailment. The problem with your theory is that although we have multiple lines serving areas all over the US, everyone wants their own line. Let’s find alternatives to the destruction associated with fossil fuel extraction and support it.

Al Neuman

Oil & gas are moved by trains in many parts of our country. One very safe help is what we are waiting on Obama to support, the Keystone XL , much safer than trains. Another, planned in the northeast, is the Pilgrim Pipeline, which will move oil in both directions from Albany to NJ refineries, which right now use barges in the Hudson & trains and trucks. Again, a pipeline will be much safer. Also there are many pipelines planned for natural gas, which is the cleanest fossil fuel existing and undoubtedly needed today.
No matter what, we need fossil fuels today. Pipeline are much safer than anything else! This is what I support.

imforit

The XL? They’re still trying to clean up a tar sands spill from 2010. If we didn’t have imaginative thinking, we would be depending on computers that take up an entire room instead of those which are hand held and do everything for you with a push of a button. Let ingenuity work and find an alternative for all the destruction created by fossil fuel extraction After all, the automobile replaced the horse. Big money is preventing alternatives.

Al Neuman

I hope you get whatever you like. Ingenuity is certainly permitted to work, hopefully someday they will find something to replace fossil fuels for our energy because someday fuels will be used up, but not with the ‘green’ sources they have today. I want fossil fuels, I enjoy driving vehicles better than riding a horse. I don’t believe ‘big money’ is preventing any alternatives, they are just producing what they are into from the beginning, – fossil fuels.

imforit

I’m wondering how well the rail tracks are maintained. They’re of prime importance and in years gone by, rails were constantly being checked. All the laws in the world won’t make up for good maintenance schedules and procedures.

AlSever

Prove that you are serious and turn off your water and heat. Perfect weather to show YOU don’t need fossil fuels. Pointed out to my plumber last night that if we did not have indoor plumbing, we would not need heat in our houses. Plumbers are causing global warming!

kenneth weir

you are so intelligent

AlSever

just finished walking the dog along the railroad between Wiliamsport and Montoursville. Guys living in tents without heat or water appear to still be alive. Assume they are true Anti gas people who proved they don’t need fossil fuels. Guys have been living in these tents ALL winter!

Flash 1005

Keep in mind that to push tar sand through XL Keystone benzene, a known carcinogen, is used.
Even a small leak would be a disaster!

kenneth weir

Al, you are hilarious, is this all original material or do you get it from fox news?

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About StateImpact Pennsylvania

StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration between WITF and WHYY. Reporters Marie Cusick and Susan Phillips cover the fiscal and environmental impact of Pennsylvania’s booming energy economy, with a focus on Marcellus Shale drilling. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania. This collaborative project is funded, in part, through grants from the Heinz Endowments and William Penn Foundation.